I believe that self-control is the root of all other spiritual fruit. Without it, you can't harvest any of the others. Perhaps that is why it's mentioned last in the list of spiritual fruit shown in Galatians 5:22-23.

It’s not that we’re bad people. As Christians, we just have bad tendencies. When we ask Jesus to come into our lives to serve as Lord and savior, then he’s going to take us at our word that we want to become like him.

In the movie Do You Believe (2015), J.D., a character played by Lee Majors, tells his worrisome wife, “Until the good Lord decides it’s time for me to go, there’s nothing going to kill me. When he decides it is time, there’s nothing that’s going to keep me. Not much point to worrying about it either way.”

Dick was a man of faith. Although he didn’t talk about it all the time, it was clear to me where he stood. He had been a lifelong Christian who rarely preached the Gospel, but demonstrated it frequently in his interaction with others.

It wasn’t a lecture of religious rules that finally got my attention, nor was it another reminder of my sinful nature. It was only after I listened to a message of hope that I heard the shout resonating into the grave I had dug for myself, “Greg, come out!”